Rain and thunder on the radar as weather expert warns when Ireland's sunny spell will break

Ireland’s recent spell of warm, sunny weather looks set to continue for a few more days, but forecasters are warning of a potential change early next week, with heavy and possibly thundery showers on the way.

Met Éireann is forecasting another scorcher this weekend, with highs of 26 degrees in parts of the west, and widespread sunshine across the country. But from Monday, patchy clouds and showers could break up the sunshine, particularly on Monday and Tuesday.

Weather expert Alan O’Reilly, who runs the popular @CarlowWeather account, says the dry streak may soon end in places.

“Plenty of sunshine next 5 days but risk of local heavy showers Monday and Tuesday,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

In a follow-up video, he added: “Lots of sunshine Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – but there is a risk of some showers on Monday and Tuesday.

“Now they’re going to be very localised. It’s going to be very hard to forecast where they hit. Some could be thundery.”

Met Éireann says today, Saturday, will be “warm and sunny,” with “highest temperatures ranging from 17 degrees along eastern coastal fringes up to 26 degrees further west, warmest in Connacht,” and “light to moderate easterly or variable breezes.”

Sunday is set to bring more of the same, with the national forecaster predicting “another warm and sunny day” and “highest temperatures ranging from 17 degrees along eastern coastal fringes up to 26 degrees in the west, all in light to moderate easterly or variable breezes.”

Met Éireann says it will be “mostly sunny to begin on Monday but patchy cloud looks set to build through the morning with a few showers breaking out in the afternoon and evening, one or two possibly heavy.” Temperatures will stay high, with “highest temperatures of 16 to 22 degrees in light to moderate easterly or variable breezes.”

Tuesday will also “start mostly sunny,” but the forecast adds that “patchy cloud looks set to build into the afternoon bringing the chance of showers, some heavy and possibly thundery.”

Again, it will remain warm with “highest temperatures of 16 to 22 degrees in light easterly or variable breezes.”

Current signals suggest a break from the rain midweek, with Met Éireann stating: “Wednesday looks like a warm and dry day with variable cloud amounts and sunshine.

Highest temperatures 19 to 23 degrees generally, a little cooler in the northern coastal fringes all in light to moderate northerly breezes.”

Looking further ahead, forecasters say Atlantic conditions may take hold: “Still a fair bit of uncertainty at the current lead time, but Atlantic westerlies do look set to eventually return towards the end of the week bringing a greater chance of spells of rain or showers.”